Bitter Herbs
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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Bitter Herbs

BITTER HERBS

hurbs, or urbs (merorim): Originally in the primitive Passover (Exodus 12:8 Numbers 9:11) these were probably merely salads, the simplest and quickest prepared form of vegetable accompaniment to the roasted lamb. Such salads have always been favorites in the Orient. Cucumbers, lettuce, water-cress, parsley and endive are some of those commonly used. Later on the Passover ritual (as it does today) laid emphasis on the idea of "bitterness" as symbolical of Israel's lot in Egypt. In modern Palestine the Jews use chiefly lettuce and endive for the "bitter herbs" of their Passover. In Lamentations 3:15 the same word is used: "He hath filled me with bitterness merorim, he hath sated me with wormwood." Here the parallelism with "wormwood" suggests some plant more distinctly bitter than the mild salads mentioned above, such, for example, as the colocynth (Citrullus colocynthus) or the violently irritating squirting cucumber (Ecballium elaterium).

E. W. G. Masterman

Smith's Bible Dictionary
Bitter Herbs

The Israelites were commanded to eat the Paschal lamb "with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs." (Exodus 12:8) These "bitter herbs" consisted of such plants as chicory, bitter cresses, hawkweeds, sow-thistles and wild lettuces, which grow abundantly in the peninsula of Sinai, in Palestine and in Egypt. The purpose of this observance was to recall to the minds of the Israelites their deliverance from the bitter bondage of the Egyptians.

Greek
5521. chole -- gall (a bitter herb)
... gall (a bitter herb). Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: chole Phonetic
Spelling: (khol-ay') Short Definition: gall, bitter herbs Definition: gall ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5521.htm - 6k
Strong's Hebrew
4844. maror -- bitter thing, bitter herb
... herbs. Word Origin from marar Definition bitter thing, bitter herb NASB
Word Usage bitter herbs (2), bitterness (1). bitterness. Or ...
/hebrew/4844.htm - 6k
Library

The Passover: an Expiation and a Feast, a Memorial and a Prophecy
... they shall eat it.8. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire,
and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.9. Eat not of ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture k/the passover an expiation and.htm

Spiritual Meaning of the Passover.
... can be found in Christ of the direction, [5035] "They shall eat the flesh this night,
roast with fire, and unleavened bread on bitter herbs shall they eat ...
/.../origen/origens commentary on the gospel of john/13 spiritual meaning of the.htm

Letter cxxviii. To Gaudentius.
... [3591] Moreover it is with bitter herbs that the passover is eaten, [3592] and
"with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." [3593] He that receives ...
/.../jerome/the principal works of st jerome/letter cxxviii to gaudentius.htm

Letter xxxi. To Eustochium.
... can please God. Everything must have in it a sharp seasoning of truth.
Christ's passover must be eaten with bitter herbs. [729]. ...
/.../jerome/the principal works of st jerome/letter xxxi to eustochium.htm

The Famine which Oppressed Them.
... And they devised the most terrible modes of torture to discover food, stopping up
the privy passages of the poor wretches with bitter herbs, and piercing their ...
/.../pamphilius/church history/chapter vi the famine which oppressed.htm

'In Remembrance of Me'
... Israelites did round the passover, of which it is the successor, with staff in hand
and loins girded, and have to eat it often with bitter herbs mingled, and ...
/.../maclaren/romans corinthians to ii corinthians chap v/in remembrance of me.htm

Meditation vi. The Last Pasch.
... the Paschal roast meat, then came a plate with green vegetables balanced against
each other, and another plate with small bundles of bitter herbs, which had ...
/.../the dolorous passion of our lord jesus christ/meditation vi the last pasch.htm

The Lord's Supper
... The Israelites did eat the Passover with bitter herbs; so must we eat the sacrament
with bitter herbs of repentance, but not with bitter hearts of wrath and ...
//christianbookshelf.org/watson/the ten commandments/4 5 the lords supper.htm

Faustus Fails to Understand Why He Should be Required Either to ...
... slay a lamb to be eaten in the evening, and that you must abstain from leaven for
seven days, and be content with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, [1032] you ...
/.../faustus fails to understand why.htm

Feasting on the Sacrifice
... direct prophecy, which is found in 'They part My garments among them, and cast lots
upon My vesture'"these be the viands, not without bitter herbs, that are ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture j/feasting on the sacrifice.htm

Resources
Who/what is Marah in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

What is gall in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

What is the meaning of wormwood in Revelation? | GotQuestions.org

Bitter: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

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